


Worlds for You

by PaisleyWraith



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M, k2challenge18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 20:51:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaisleyWraith/pseuds/PaisleyWraith
Summary: Written for Townycod's 2018 K2 challenge, Kyle, under a lot of stress, begins having odd dreams concerning his friend that connect with the living world.





	Worlds for You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Townycod13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Townycod13/gifts).



Kyle flopped into bed, angry and tired. He’d been exhausted lately, up late studying and barely catching sleep. He’d failed the past two tests in one of his AP classes, leaving him having to ace every test left just to pull off a C. Which was unacceptable. 

He was forgetting assignments his grades were diving and he felt more snappish than usual, exhausted and angry and frustrated over the future. 

Everything felt hopeless. 

His friends in other smart classes, like David and Wendy, were doing far better than he was. Stan had a set of problems worse than Kyle at the moment, his divorced parents in the middle of a fight, the topic of which was so volatile that he refused to tell Kyle what was happening and withdrew, likely beginning to drink again. Cartman was now an enemy rather than frenemy, Kyle’s mortal foil. As for the last friend in his group, Kenny’s presence was sporadic at best. 

Of course his family was no help. He had to quit basketball to continue studying and try to raise his grades. Spent less time with friends or even outside, studying and memorizing and preparing for classes. 

His room was covered in papers, binders, filled out and color-coded notecards scattered everywhere. Kyle turned around so he wouldn’t have to look at it anymore. It would just be up early to do the same shit again. 

He couldn’t fall asleep. Up again, study, eat, school, home, study, eat, study, sleep. His body felt jittery, as if it were protesting on it’s own. 

He wanted to sleep. He just wanted to get some rest. He needed it. He didn’t want to get up in the morning. 

Kyle stared resolutely at his wall, as the hours ticked away. 

\--

He woke up in a cavern, a dark gaping maw that ate at his boots as he tried to climb up the sides. Only about ten feet by ten, black rock and slime oozed down the sides and filled the bottom of the cave ever higher, forcing Kyle to struggle to keep himself from being sucked down. 

He dug his hands into the side of the walls, fingers engulfed by the cold clay. He dug the toes of his boots into the murk, trying, desperately, to climb upwards. 

Again, the sludge rained downwards, knocking him back, trying to drown him in the bottomless floor he knew would appear if he let himself be taken. 

“Wow,” Someone said, and Kyle nearly jumped out of his skin. “This is pretty dark for you, Kyle.” 

He turned to see Kenny McCormick, wearing his ugly and battered orange parka with the hood down, standing on the ground as if it didn’t bother him. 

Kyle stared as he began walking around the small space. “What…are you doing here?” The boy seemed to radiate a soft light of his own, his eyes were startlingly blue and visible without his usual hood, making him look ethereal. 

Kenny was still looking around, appearing thoughtful. He turned around to grin at Kyle, opening his mouth to speak when he stopped. 

He was staring behind him, and Kyle whirled. There was nothing, aside from a sprig of white flowers crawling up the side of the cavern. 

He looked back at Kenny, who looked thoughtful. “I think I see what’s going on,” The blond commented to himself, looking strangely happy. His eyes shifted back to the redhead. 

“You look terrible, man,” He told him, smiling as Kyle scowled. 

“Get out of my head,” He ordered him. “I have to get out.” 

Kenny scratched his cheek. “You’re dreaming, you know,” He pointed out to Kyle. 

“And?” He asked, digging his hands back into the clay. 

Kenny caught a wrist, pulling him away from the side of the wall. 

He shot him an incredulous look for grabbing him, but still allowed the boy to pull his body away from the wall. 

Kenny’s hands moved to his shoulders and he leaned on him slightly, and yet Kyle didn’t sink further into the ground. 

“Think, for a second,” Kenny said, voice suddenly eerily gentle. “Where do you want to go?” 

“What?” Kyle’s brows furrowed. “I’m…not…following…” 

Kenny snorted softly, rubbing his thumbs against his shoulders. “Trust me, okay?” 

“Okay,” Kyle answered, finding it harder to focus on what was around them, his attention oddly drawn to his friend. 

“Take a deep breath,” Kenny’s light voice was soothing. The cavern was covered in white flowers, bushy white and green things that began touch the two on all sides, encasing them in a cushion of white flowers. “Good. Good job, Ky.” 

“What are you-”

Kenny interrupted him. “Imagine somewhere open. Under the sky.” His eyes burned into Kyle’s. “Somewhere not too warm, not too cool. Clean air.” 

Kyle looked back at him, inhaling. Exhaling. “Alright.” 

Kenny’s smile was brilliant. “Bring me there,” He asked him, hands traveling across his shoulders. The flowers brushed against Kyle’s face. Kenny’s hands traveled up his neck, cupping his jaw. “Show me.” 

Kyle took a step forward. 

Into the daylight, a wind whipping at his hair, pulling his curls away from his face. 

A sun was setting on the horizon, an ocean of grey and the sky a mosaic blue, connecting together at the blinding light of the sun. 

“Wow.” 

Kyle inhaled the sea air and turned to see Kenny standing on the same land that Kyle was, emerald green grass and brown rocks, looking utterly breathtaking in the soft light, against the background of the sea. 

“You don’t half-ass anything, do you, nerd?” Kenny’s voice was warm, teasing. 

He walked forward, stumbling over a reaching bush of small, white flowers that suddenly appeared. Kyle caught him, Kenny clutching at his jacket as he laughed, righting himself. 

Kenny was close, unobstructed, blue eyes matching the sky and staring directly at Kyle, beaming and bright and beautiful.

Kyle supported him, Kenny moving to touch his forehead against Kyle’s, his ruffled blond hair getting into Kyle’s eyes. 

He could feel Kenny breathing against his face, soft little giggles, warm hands curled into his sweater. 

And the next moment, Kyle was staring at his bedroom wall. 

Study. Eat. School. 

He didn’t see Kenny that day. He wasn’t sure why he expected to. He went through his day, and the next, and the next, without seeing the boy at all. 

He did see Kenny later that week, briefly, while passing him in the hall and headed back home to work. Kenny waved, said something cheerful, and passed by continuing to chat with Butters Stotch. 

Kyle felt somewhat odd. Almost like he ought to have stopped him and mentioned what happened. 

Strange. 

Kyle went home and worked well into the night. 

\--

Kyle had been back in the dark for several nights. Sometimes being chased by something, usually falling. Dying. Hurting. 

Tonight it was another dying dream. He was drowning. The water was cold, a weird greenish light filtering from above, and Kyle was dying. 

He couldn’t hold his breath much longer. He clawed at his throat, leaving gouges in the skin, unable to hold his breath any longer. He inhaled, filling his lungs with cold, thick water. 

He reached out for anything, anything at all, one last attempt. 

He choked, inhaling more, blacking out. 

Arms curled around his waist. 

He was being dragged out of the water, into an explosion of sunlight, a forest of bright green and cheerful birdsongs, soft ripples in the water and a wooden dock extending from the muddy bank. 

He stumbled, finding he could breathe just fine now, clothes soaked and his steps slogged in the water as the arms continued to help him out of the water. 

Soft droplets of rain dripped off the leaves above onto Kyle, only one arm around him now. 

“You alright, dude?” Kenny was saying, other hand brushing his own wet hair back. “I’ve never seen anyone else’s dreams before. That’s scary as hell.” 

Kyle looked over at him, brows furrowed. “What?” 

Kenny snorted, softly, reaching over to push Kyle’s curls out of his face. “Nothing, Kyle. Nevermind.” 

Normally he’d follow up on that. But this was a dream, of course, naturally it was going to be a little chaotic and wrong. 

Kenny led them to the docks, a hand resting on Kyle’s back at they sat, watching the calm water and Kyle wiping the water from his face. 

Kenny’s hand moved to his hair, brushing through the tangling mess slowly. Kyle let him massage his scalp, closing his eyes and listening to the birds, feeling the gentle breeze cool him through his wet clothes. 

“Hey, Ky?” Kenny’s voice was soft, tender, something Kyle had heard him use with Karen and occasionally Butters, but not himself. 

The redhead looked over at him, Kenny’s expression light but thoughtful, the hood of his parka pushed back and exposing his face as he considered something. 

“What?” Kyle felt suspicious, blinking against sudden sunlight filtering through the leaves above. 

“Are you doing okay?” Kenny’s fingers moved to brush against the nape of his neck, making Kyle shiver. 

The redhead avoided his gaze. That was something that he didn’t want to talk about, even in a dream. 

“Alright, I know you’re not,” Kenny was massaging his neck now, calloused fingers brushing his skin. “So. You know. Talk to someone, man. You look dead half the time nowadays.” 

“I’m getting bad grades,” Kyle spoke, eyes fixated on the water, light blindingly harsh and reflected against the pond. 

“Yeah?” Kenny’s voice was lazy. “We all do at some point, y’know. Even you smart kids.”

“I can’t fail anything else,” Kyle found now it was easy to spill the words now that he started, voice growing more agitated, more angry. “I can’t get bad grades the last year of school. I keep fucking _trying_ , it’s not like I’m being lazy, I just can’t get anything fucking _done_ anymore, I can’t work, I can’t remember, I can’t even _sleep_ anymore, I can’t stand anyone talking to me, I’m done. I’m just done.” 

Kenny said nothing. 

His arms curled around Kyle and he fell backwards, taking the boy with him and cradling him to his chest. 

Kyle was still staring, now up at the canopy of trees that was now far less bright than it had been a moment ago. Kenny’s arms wrapped around his waist, Kyle’s head was on his chest, and the two boys didn’t say a single word. 

Kyle almost expected Kenny to tease him, tickle him, jokingly pretend to feel him up. Instead, the boy just breathed under him, solid and real, silent and understanding. 

He felt real. He even smelled like Kenny did in real life. He just acted softer, less teasing, less rowdy jokes or comments when things got too quiet. This was nice, to be honest. 

“Take care of yourself, dude,” Kenny’s calm voice rumbled through his chest, under Kyle. 

Kyle didn’t even get to ask what he was talking about before he was staring at his ceiling.

Again. Back to routine. 

Study. Eat. School. 

Stan hanging out with a couple goth kids, Token asking Kyle if he wanted to go to practice even if he wasn’t at the team and declining. An F in Sociology, one of the elected college courses he’d taken. 

Kenny wasn’t at school again. Kyle skipped the last class, his study hall, to go home and spend more time going over his notes. 

\--

This dream was different. Six days later, his dream started out pleasant. 

He was standing to his ankles in water, jeans rolled up and feet bare, walking on smooth stones. The water was clear, extending out under a cloudy, cool sky, until it reached mountains in the distance: snow-capped and blue. 

He turned, noticing that this was all this was. Water, continuing forever until it reached the mountains that bordered the entire area. 

And a boy, in his ratty parka and a pair of jeans, smiling at Kyle like he was particularly proud of something. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever given you credit for being a creative type, bro,” Kenny walked over to him, making ripples in the still water. “Every time this happens, it’s something really cool.” 

“Why are you always here?” The landscape was still, silent, the only noise were ones the boys made themselves. Kyle faced the boy, not even a wind stirring the air. “I don’t get what’s happening.” 

Kenny’s eyes flit between his own. “I’m dead, Kyle,” He said simply, smiling as Kyle’s breath caught. “I’ll be back tomorrow. But every night I die, every time I disappear, I find myself here.” 

He gestured around them, looking oddly peaceful. “I thought maybe it was some kind of Heaven. Or Purgatory. But it’s not mine, and it’s reactive to me, it’s just _you._ ”

Kyle’s brows furrowed. “I don’t understand.” 

Kenny shrugged. “You don’t believe me. No matter what I say, no matter what I do. I’m not explaining it to you again, Kyle. I’ve told you about it more times than I can remember at this point.” 

Fire sparked in Kyle, beating past his tired melancholy, and the water rippled as a low rumble hummed through the earth. 

“Tell me again,” Kyle demanded. “What do you mean, you’re dying?” 

“I’m dead already,” Kenny corrected, nonchalantly. 

Kyle looked incredulous, wind whipping violently at his hair. “Why are you so blasé about this?” 

“It’s my life, Kyle, it’s been happening since I’ve been born,” Kenny snapped back, looking annoyed. “Dunno why. Don’t pretend you care now, you’ve watched me shoot my damn brains out and didn’t blink.”

“You’re lying,” Kyle accused, heart going cold. He had to be. He was just dreaming, of course, and yet… 

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Kenny’s voice was suddenly low. A wave lapped against their legs as they stared each other down in a crystal clear lake. “Call me a fucking liar.” 

“I’m dreaming this up, you admitted that yourself!” Kyle stood straight, connecting with Kenny’s gaze. 

“And I just said my dead spirit is wandering the shit around and got caught here multiple times, you having trouble listening or some shit?” Kenny drawled, but the look in his face was cold and unfriendly. "Are you seriously yelling at me right now, Kyle? I thought you outgrew this."

He ignored the jab. “How did you die this last time, then?” Kyle snapped, eyes fiery. 

“This time?” Kenny smiled, something sharp and ugly, tilting his head. “Shot. Three times in the chest. I bled out on the concrete while the entire town was asleep in their beds.” 

Kyle was breathing heavily. Waves were washing up on them, soaking up to Kyle’s knees. “Prove it.” 

“You won’t like it,” Kenny warned, sneering. “Truth’s fucking ugly.” 

“I said fucking prove it,” The teenager took another step, threateningly, and Kenny shrugged. 

He unzipped his coat, shrugging off the parka and letting it soak into the water, hanging off his elbows. 

His white tshirt was stained in three spots, dark scarlet stains in his chest that dripped down, under his collarbone, by his sternum, on his stomach. 

“Surprise,” Kenny smiled, grimly. “I told-”

Kyle grabbed the front of his shirt, infuriated. 

He backed the boy up, until his back hit a tree. 

Kenny looked past Kyle, around at the new area, low-slung clouds over a plain prairie that was humid and heavy, the sky was green and the grass almost colorless. 

He looked back at Kyle, who was almost too angry to process. 

“Who did that?” He could feel the sticky blood under his hands. Kenny’s blood, warm and oozing from the wounds. “What happened?” 

“Don’t pretend you care now,” Kyle knew Kenny well enough to notice the stiffness in his body, the sudden uncertainty. 

“Don’t bullshit me,” Kyle’s fingers were going numb. “Of course I care. What happened?” 

“I was trying to bust a ring and I got caught,” Kenny tried to shrug, but Kyle’s grip on his shirt was restrictive. “Ow, man. Let go.” 

“You were…” Kyle couldn’t follow. Something brushed at his mind, masks and costumes and playing pretend. “Like what, some kind of grown up ‘Mysterion’?” 

“I’m considering taking up the moniker seriously, maybe, yeah.” Kenny’s anger was evaporating, replaced by something almost akin to curiosity. “Weird. You don’t normally care like this.” 

“You’re throwing yourself into danger, of course I care!” Kyle repeated himself. “What’s…is this really a...dream, or what’s happening?” 

“You won’t remember, Kyle,” Kenny told him. “It doesn’t matter.” 

“It matters,” Kyle’s fingers twisted further into the fabric, so close to Kenny that the other was having difficulty keeping him in his vision. “It matters to you, and if I- if I forget, I would still care, I’m not forgetting on purpose, Kenny, for fuck’s sake.” 

The last of Kenny’s irritation melted, and his shoulders slumped. He looked defeated and somewhat disgusted. “Yeah. Sure.” 

Kyle wasn’t going to indulge in that obvious trap. His hands moved upwards, up his chest and over his shoulders, cupping his jaw. 

Kenny froze, staring. Uncertainty and panic passed over his face before it smoothed again. 

“This landscape is nice, too,” He said, drawl coloring each word deliberately. “Little gay, though. Pinning me so violently…you got somethin’ to say, babe?” 

“Don’t try and switch the topic,” Kyle kept his hands on his face, green eyes flashing. “I know who you are, you idiot. Try me.” 

“’Kay,” Kenny took the invitation. “You’re pinning me to a tree and nearly with your entire body, I’m about ten seconds away from grabbing your ass just to return the affection, are we gonna fuck in the fields or something?” He paused, waiting for a crack in Kyle’s expression. He looked disappointed when he didn’t get one. “I’d let you, probably. If you sweet talk me enough and make me promises you know you won’t keep. Woo me good.” 

“Shut up, Kenny,” Kyle finally said, finding himself unable to take them out of the heavy atmosphere he’d created. 

“You’re getting dangerously close to my dick, which is gonna cause us a lot of more problems-”

“I said shut up,” Kyle’s hands brushed back Kenny’s hair. “Before I _punch_ you in your fucking dick.” 

Kenny closed his mouth. And opened it. 

“Masochism might work for me,” He tried one more time, and Kyle finally gave up. 

He shoved Kenny away, the boy stumbling and falling on his butt in the field. He glared up at Kyle like a petulant child. 

Kyle took a breath, crossing his arms and looking down at him. 

The two boys looked at each other. 

“I’ll remember,” Kyle told him, voice strong and unyielding. Kenny looked incredulous. “And I’ll figure out why.” 

Kenny snorted. “You won’t. Not for either of them.” He pulled his parka back on, watching swirling cloud pass low overhead. 

“I want to,” Kyle told him. 

Kenny swallowed. He watched the tendrils, threats of a tornado looming in the dark sky. 

“Thanks, Ky,” He finally said, watching as the cloud extended downwards. 

Kyle was curled up under two blankets, blinking in the sunlight. 

Study. Eat. School. 

\--

Kyle didn’t see Kenny the next day. Or the next one. 

But the third day. 

Kenny McCormick was finally alone in his locker. Kyle shut his own, walking calmly over to the boy. 

Dreams were just dreams. Something to be discarded and not thought about any longer. 

But. 

Kenny’s eyes, the empty, bitter feeling. Kyle saw it more and more in himself lately, and if any of this was remotely true, he didn’t have a fourth of the reason to be this upset. 

Kyle caught Kenny’s locker door, opening it wider as he looked up at the boy. 

Kenny stared down at him, smiling crookedly. “Okay. Can I help you, dude, or what?”

“I had a nightmare the other day,” Kyle said, watching. Kenny’s smile disappeared immediately. 

“Yeah?” Kenny’s face held nothing. 

And that was Kyle’s tell. His heart jumped. 

“You told me you died,” He said, and Kenny’s suntanned face turned white. 

Hold on. Kyle inhaled, slowly, and Kenny’s eyes were wide. 

“Kenny,” Kyle’s voice lowered and he leaned in closer. “Do you die and come back? Is that seriously why you skip school so much?” 

The blond seemed to have lost the ability to speak, gripping his locker door just above Kyle’s own hand, staring down with parted lips like he was trying to think of something to say. 

“You two gaying it up over there?” Cartman, of course it was Cartman, sneered across the hallway. 

Kyle started for him, but Kenny grabbed his arm. 

The redhead paused, but Kenny wasn’t looking at him. He was still staring ahead, dazed. 

“Skip school with me,” Kenny whispered, thumb caressing his arm. 

“Wh-” Kyle’s mind sort of…went sideways at the touch, so much sharper and startling in real life. “No!” 

Kenny finally looked at him, surprised. “No?” 

School, home, study, eat, study, sleep. 

“I can’t,” Kyle looked at his watch. “I have…a test, if I don’t-”

Kenny’s other hand covered the watch. Kyle looked up to see the boy looking uncomfortable. 

“After, then,” He said, relenting. “You go…go take your tests. You said that was bothering you, right?” 

Holy shit. 

Kyle nodded, slowly, staring at this…oddly vulnerable, open expression. He’d never seen this on Kenny before. 

“You guys gonna suck face or what?” The Fatass had gotten closer as his more colorful insults were ignored, not used to being shoved aside. He smirked when he had their attention, particularly when Kyle bristled. 

“Oh, there’s a couple things I wouldn’t mind suckin’ on that boy,” Kenny drawled, never one to be outdone by vulgarities. Kyle choked. Kenny bat his eyelashes at Cartman. “But he’s helping me with a family matter right now. Wouldn’t be right to ask.” 

Cartman did look quelled, but he wasn’t one to back down verbally either. “What, he giving your family a twenty to buy a toaster? Make sure you mark that on charity on your tax returns, Kal, you might get something back.” 

“Are we really making _tax return_ jokes,” Stan had broken off his new entourage to look distressed. “You know we’ve gotten too old-”

The bell rang, and Kyle had no choice but to leave the boys behind. He aimed a kick at Cartman that missed on his way by, giving Kenny a furious, red-faced look as he stalked off, feeling the ghost of fingers running through his hair. 

\--

Kenny didn’t answer his phone after school. 

“Where’d he run off to?” Kyle had asked Stan after work, who shrugged nonchalantly. 

“I didn’t see him today,” He commented. “Probably skipped, Kyle.” 

Kyle went home. And thought for a while. 

\--

He expected this tonight. 

Kyle walked along a huge field, sunny and cool, extending forever with tulips. Bright red, in neat rows, far as the eye could see, over flatlands and disappearing on the horizon over rolling hills. 

In the mass amounts of flowers, there was one dirt path. Kyle walked along it, barely wide enough for his feet, tulips brushing his jeans and going endlessly forward. 

The boy kept walking. Eventually, this would lead him to Kenny. He knew it would. 

This was real. Kyle kept looking around, taking note of everything. The fluffy white clouds, bright sun reflecting bright colors off the red tulips and outlining them in gold. The smell of earth, of summertime, the buzz of invisible insects. 

Kenny was connected to him. Kenny was dying, being killed, and resurrecting. And apparently it had been happening for a while. 

That burned in Kyle. Since they were kids, he said. 

Kyle kept walking, focused on one thing only. 

There, about forty yards away. Blond, over an orange coat. He was watching Kyle, had materialized, he was certain, because he just looked there. 

The redhead moved into a jog. Kenny was walking towards him, too, waving. 

He didn’t stop once he reached him. 

Kyle threw his arms around him, like a child, wrapping around him and taking Kenny by surprise so that he fell, cushioned by soft wheatgrass. 

The blond was laughing, breathless, red-faced, staring up at something Kyle didn’t have to look at to know was there. 

A massive, star-studded sky, meteors sparkling across the sky leaving colored trails in their wake. All over a flat, empty wheat field, grasses brushing at Kyle’s cheeks as he looked down at Kenny, sprawled out underneath him and staring upwards in awe. 

Once upon a time, Kenny had asked him to watch a meteor shower. Kyle ignored him then, too, for another agenda. 

“I’m sorry,” Kyle said, not quite able to coax himself away from this position. 

Kenny’s eyes were alight. His chest moving with deep inhaled. 

“Yeah,” he said, sounding a bit breathless. “Wow. When you apologize you go all out, huh?” 

“How did you die?” Kyle interrupted him. 

Kenny laughed, sounding a bit embarrassed. “To be honest, I got jumped by the junkies out in the yard. Totally wasn’t paying attention, they were high off their asses and I was in the wrong place, wrong time.” 

Kyle didn’t laugh. He watched Kenny, brows furrowing. “Don’t put yourself in danger anymore.” 

“You can’t really dictate that,” Kenny began, switching into a more earnest tone once he saw Kyle’s face. “Don’t, Ky, I don’t wanna fight you tonight. Please.” 

The please got him. He couldn’t remember the last time Kenny asked him for something. 

Kyle relented, and sat back like a normal person instead of straddling Kenny. 

Kenny looked disappointed, but sat up as well. 

“What about you?” Kenny smiled at him. “What’s all this trouble at school? This sounds like it goes deeper than just being upset about grades, man.”

“Yeah,” Kyle was torn between laughing and smacking the guy, “I think that’s a little small in comparison to being telepathically connected and you being some kind of walking rebirth victim.” 

Kenny pointed up. The stars were gone. Kyle tried to imagine them back, but the sky remained bleak. 

“Stan didn’t say you were having problems,” Kenny prodded, sitting cross-legged. 

“I didn’t tell Stan,” Kyle wearily replied. “He’s got his own problems.” 

“Yeah,” Kenny knew all about it. And probably more. It seemed Kyle drifted away while everyone else got closer, or at least it felt like that. He visibly chewed on his lip before scooting a little closer. 

“But if we compare shit we’re never gonna solve anything,” Kenny pointed out. “You can’t just start with who has the worst problems, you can’t compare things like that. I don’t know what you go through, but I guarantee I am a hundred percent more comfortable handling my shit than whatever is happening with you.”

Kyle was already shaking his head. 

“Hundred percent,” Kenny said firmly, interrupting Kyle before he could even speak. “Just tell me. What’s your biggest problem right now?” 

“I don’t want to go to law school,” Kyle said immediately, and regretted it afterwards. He was such a rich white kid. The words hung awkwardly, so Kyle tried to move to fix them. 

“I don’t want to be a lawyer,” Kyle picked a stalk of wheat and twirled it in his fingers. “I don’t want to go off to the East Coast for school. I don’t even know what I want to do, it’s all been decided for me like I have no fucking say in my own life. I had to quit basketball, I never see Stan anymore, and I can’t tell him about this because it’s such a stupid problem, and I can’t tell you-”

Kenny was still listening, arms wrapped around his knees with his chin resting on them. 

“-I know it’s a stupid problem,” Kyle ran a hand through his hair. “But I’m tired. I’m pissed off at my parents and they don’t even know. I want to have my life back, every single day it’s the same routine, I do the same things, and I’m just so tired of it all.” He tossed the stalk away, irritated at himself. “You’re honest with me,” He told Kenny, without looking at him. “You’re always straight with me.”

Kenny snorted. 

“Stop,” Kyle snapped at him briefly. He bit his cheek to keep from laughing himself. The asshole. “It’s stupid, and you know it’s stupid.” 

“It’s kind of stupid,” Kenny admitted easily. “It’s definitely a first-world problem.” He watched as Kyle nodded, smiling at the redhead afterwards. “But it makes sense, too.”

“People would kill to be in my shoes,” Kyle repeated what he’d heard over and over, day after day. 

“And people have killed themselves over much less,” Kenny replied instantly, making Kyle snap to attention. 

“That’s profound,” He commented. 

“I have moments,” Kenny drawled, before his expression melted into something more genuine. “Nah, man. You’ve every right to feel frustrated. It’s probably why your grades are tanking, too. Dude, I would have revolted and moved across the world by now. It’s a first world problem, but it’s not a trivial one.” 

Kyle went to dissect that in his mind. 

Kenny nudged him until he looked back at him. He was smiling, sweet and fond and with familiar blue eyes. 

Funny. It was different from the first dream. Less ethereal. More real. More honest. 

“I say you need to make a few changes,” Kenny said quietly. “Handle this like an adult, Kyle. Stop thinking like a kid.” 

Kyle cracked a smile, making Kenny laugh. 

“Which is great coming from me, I know,” Kenny teased. “Look who’s the immature one now, Mr. Broflovski. Oh, how the chairs rotate!” 

“Stop,” Kyle was smiling still, shoulders easing. “You were always secretly the most mature one of us.” 

Kenny flushed, but recovered quickly. 

“I’ll remind you of that,” He promised with a glowing smile. 

Kyle looked back across the wheat field to hide the softening of his own grin. The two sat in silence, watching as the sky slowly blinked back to life, new galaxies forming and becoming brighter than ever, though the shooting stars were still vibrant against the canvas. 

Kyle closed his eyes. Listened to the soft crickets, the breeze sifting through the grass, Kenny’s careful breathing. 

He moved so that their shoulders touched, just barely, and felt Kenny turn to look at him. Kyle kept watching the stars. 

“I’m going to help you with your problem,” Kyle promised. “You shouldn’t have to die, even if you come back.” 

Kenny made a soft noise, maybe a laugh, maybe not. 

“I’ll be honest,” The blond said softly, that gentle, loving voice back as his hand inched towards Kyle’s hair. “It’s…a lot nicer now that this happens.”

Kyle finally looked at him, Kenny’s fingers tangling into his hair. The boy looked so solemn, but so genuine. Open. 

Something Kenny wasn’t really with anyone else. 

“I’m glad it helps, somewhat,” Kyle said, honestly. 

The blond licked his lips, unblinking. “Knowing you can create cool things like this? Creating things like this,” He gestured to the field, under stars that glowed and shot across the sky, “For me? Yeah,” He didn’t look away. “It helps a lot.” 

Kyle said nothing. Kenny’s hands brushed the nape of his neck. And Kyle moved in, solidly pressing his lips to Kenny’s. 

If the boy was surprised by the show of affection, he didn’t show it. He kissed Kyle back like he was waiting for it, expecting it, hungrily with the enthusiasm of someone who’d been waiting for it for longer than just a few minutes. 

Kyle kissed Kenny and sighed as fingers lightly scratched at his scalp, deepening the kiss and moving to touch him, slide his hands up his chest. Sliding his tongue into his mouth and feeling Kenny hum, pleased, other arm reaching to slide over his shoulders as well. 

Kyle’s hands reached his shoulders, massaged them lightly, then shoved him away and pushed him down onto the ground. 

Kenny looked surprised but not unhappy, given a great view of the night sky and of Kyle leaning over him. The redheaded boy watched him, heart warming, brushing his hair away from his face. 

“Is this where you confess you’re in love with me?” Kenny asked, eyes burning as he looked up at the other boy. 

“I’m in love with you,” Kyle deadpanned, watching as Kenny began giggling like a maniac and pulled his jacket over his lips. 

“You know,” The boy squeaked, turning dark pink, “I would have said something like ‘nah, this is where I show you’, and then got all really romantic on you.” 

“And I would have laughed my ass off,” Kyle retorted, leaning so their noses nearly brushed. “And pointed out every stupid thing you did from then on.” 

“I think you’ll probably do that anyway,” Kenny said, hair strewn over the grass, glowing as he smiled up at the redhead. 

“Guess we’ll see,” Kyle teased back, and leaned down to kiss him again.


End file.
